Hey there, let's work through why your percentage calculations are behaving unexpectedly—specifically the third row showing 20x your expected value, and percent_on_first_day not returning the 100.00 you're anticipating (since it should be 100.0 * 1/1). Here are the most common issues to check:

1. Integer Division or Data Type Quirks #

PostgreSQL handles integer division strictly: if both operands in a division are integers, it returns an integer (truncating decimals entirely). While you mentioned using 100.0 * 1/1 (which uses a float to force decimal math), double-check if your actual query has any implicit integer casts:

• If you’re using COUNT(*) (which returns an integer) without multiplying by a float first, you might lose precision accidentally.
• For the third row, if your calculation uses (count_a / count_b) * 100 instead of 100.0 * count_a / count_b, integer division could skew the result (e.g., 20 / 1 becomes 20, multiplied by 100 gives 2000 instead of the expected 100 if count_b was supposed to be 20).

2. Unintended Row Duplication from Joins #

If your query uses JOIN clauses, improper join conditions can lead to duplicate rows that inflate your counts:

• If the third row’s group matches 20 rows in the joined table, your numerator (like a sum or count) would be 20x larger than intended.
• Verify that your JOIN uses unique, precise keys (e.g., joining on a primary key instead of a non-unique category column) to avoid accidental Cartesian products.

3. Incorrect Aggregation or Grouping #

Double-check your GROUP BY and aggregate functions:

• Are you grouping by the correct columns? If the third row is accidentally grouping multiple distinct entries together, the aggregated value could be 20x the expected amount.
• Ensure your WHERE or HAVING clauses aren’t excluding rows for the first group but including extra rows for the third group.

4. Validate Raw Values with a Simplified Query #

The fastest way to pinpoint the issue is to isolate the raw numbers going into your calculation. Run this simplified query for the problematic rows:

SELECT 
  your_group_column,
  numerator_value AS raw_numerator,
  denominator_value AS raw_denominator,
  100.0 * numerator_value / denominator_value AS calculated_percent
FROM your_table
WHERE your_group_column IN ('first_row_identifier', 'third_row_identifier');

This will show you exactly what numbers are being used. For the first row, confirm that raw_numerator and raw_denominator are both 1. For the third row, you’ll likely see either:

• A numerator that’s 20x larger than expected, or
• A denominator that’s 1/20th of what you intended.

If you can share your actual query (redacting any sensitive data), we can dive even deeper into the specifics!

内容的提问来源于stack exchange，提问作者Chris